USDA worker quits over racism charge from video

Video clip showed her saying she had not helped a farmer as much as she could have because he was white

Published July 20, 2010 12:39PM (EDT)

A black federal worker has resigned from a Georgia agricultural job after a video clip showed her saying she had not helped a farmer as much as she could have because he was white.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement Tuesday he had accepted the resignation of Shirley Sherrod. Vilsack says the USDA has no tolerance for discrimination.

Sherrod told the Atlanta-Journal Constitution she was forced out of her job as the USDA's rural development director for Georgia. She said the two-minute, 38-second video posted online Monday misconstrued her message.

Sherrod's taped remarks were from a local meeting of the civil rights group NAACP.

National NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous welcomed the resignation because the group opposes racism of all kinds.


By Associated Press

MORE FROM Associated Press


Related Topics ------------------------------------------

Race Shirley Sherrod